Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2020-11-12"
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- Alexitimia, processo de regulação emocional dual e problemas nas relações interpessoais: estudo exploratório na população com perturbação de uso de substânciasPublication . Falcato, Deise Raquel Garcia; Janeiro, LuísA alexitimia e a desregulação emocional são características das Perturbações de Uso de Substâncias (PUS) que têm consequências a nível das relações interpessoais. O presente estudo tem como objetivo (1) caracterizar a população com PUS nas dimensões do processo de regulação emocional e nos problemas destas pessoas nas relações interpessoais; (2) analisar a relação entre a alexitimia e os problemas nas relações interpessoais mediada pela regulação emocional implícita e a regulação emocional explícita (supressão e a reavaliação). Para tal, foi recolhida uma amostra de quarenta e quatro indivíduos com diagnóstico de PUS que se encontravam em tratamento em regime de internamento. A recolha foi realizada através de instrumentos de autorrelato para avaliar a alexitimia, as estratégias de regulação explicitas e os problemas nas relações e uma tarefa em computador que avalia a capacidade de regulação emocional implícita. Os sujeitos com PUS apresentaram características alexitimicas, dificuldades a nível da regulação emocional implícita, recurso à supressão em detrimento da reavaliação e mais problemas nas relações interpessoais quando comparado com a população geral. Apesar de não se ter verificado a hipótese de mediação testada, constatou-se que a reavaliação e, parcialmente, a supressão, moderaram a relação entre a alexitimia e os problemas nas relações interpessoais. Conclui-se que para melhorar a qualidade das relações destes sujeitos, é necessário ajudá-los a reconhecer as suas emoções e a utilizar a reavaliação ao mesmo tempo que restringem o uso da supressão, dado o efeito adaptativo da primeira e o desadaptativo da segunda.
- The role of melatonin in sperm from two aquaculture fish species with reproductive problems: Solea senegalensis and Anguilla anguillaPublication . Ferrão, Maria Leonor Pires; Cabrita, Elsa; Oliveira, CatarinaMelatonin can be found in all types of organisms, from multicellular to unicellular. It is widely known for its role in circadian system synchrony, including reproductive cycle control. This molecule is multifunctional, contributing to various cellular mechanisms involving cell homeostasis and oxidative damage protection. Thus, melatonin potential in sperm biology has gain attention as it could improve spermatozoa performance. Although in other vertebrates, melatonin supplementation has exhibited great improvements, in seawater fish species, there are no reports concerning its effects. Therefore, in a first experiment, the effects of melatonin in sperm motility using different concentrations and exposure times were evaluated in two cultured fish species with reproductive dysfunctions, the European eel, and the Senegalese sole. This enabled to better understand the cellular mechanisms by which melatonin can take part in spermatozoa motility. Regarding the European eel, there were no differences in sperm motility among different melatonin concentrations or exposure times, which may be related to MeOH tolerance in this species sperm. In the Senegalese sole, the sperm motility was significantly lower throughout melatonin exposure time suggesting that sperm quality decrease could be allied with DMSO toxicity. However, in 0.1 and 10 mM concentrations, there was a slight increase in spermatozoa motility. Although the motility descriptors were not significantly different, this improvement could be related with melatonin ability to freely cross the spermatozoa membrane cell. A second experiment was conducted to explore melatonin protective effect during sperm cryopreservation in Senegalese sole, following a described protocol for this species as a control versus two melatonin supplementations (0.1 and 10 mM). The post-thawed sperm was evaluated for motility, viability, DNA fragmentation, lipid peroxidation, ROS, and apoptosis detection. The 10 mM melatonin supplement exhibited significantly lower spermatozoa viability combined with higher percentages of late apoptotic cells dead by caspases. Therefore, it suggests that lower melatonin concentrations may provide a better effect in cell protection against apoptotic events triggered by ROS production. Altogether, the obtained results in both experiments emphasize the melatonin species-specificity effect and the necessity of exploring other concentrations with different techniques in fish sperm.
- The Rathbone Hotel: internship reportPublication . Faleiro, André Ludgero Soares Raposo Pires; Sousa, CarlosIn order to complete their studies for their Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management at the University of Algarve, students were given several options: to write a thesis; develop and put into practice a project or to do an internship and present a final report. Bearing in mind that I was looking for a challenge, I decided to do a one-year internship abroad, namely, at The Rathbone Hotel, a boutique hotel in London, to acquire more practical experience in the hospitality industry and to hone the skill sets I acquired during my course, so that I could become a better professional in my area of expertise. The fact that Rathbone Hotel is a boutique hotel greatly influenced my choice, as I have always had a particular interest in better understanding what this concept truly means. This interest derived from having a preference for this style of hotel, as a customer (which, after all, is at the heart of the hotel industry, “everything is because of the guest, his perception and how he feels!!!”). As I already had the perception of being a customer in several boutique hotels, I wanted to learn and understand how they work and function on the other side of the barricade, as an employee and future manager. After going through a selection process, we developed an internship plan in collaboration. This plan had all the data regarding the functions I would perform in each operational department of the hotel, as well as the scheduled length of time I would spend in every department. I started my internship working in Reservations. Afterwards, I went to Housekeeping, Food and Beverage – Breakfast Service, Accounts, Front Office – Reception, Food and Beverage – Bar and Room Service and I completed my internship as a Duty Manager. The main objective of this internship (and how it was outlined) focused on the acquisition and application of knowledge regarding hotel management and operation, namely with regards to the planning, execution, optimization, control and monitoring phases, in an attempt to improve processes and to develop skills in the hospitality industry. During my internship, I developed and acquired several skill sets, performing several tasks in all of the hotel´s departments, I did specific reports under management’s requests, I met many people and developed a solid network, I learnt, and I became a Rathbone Hotel family member. I successfully completed all the tasks I was assigned, according to their deadline and to the hotel´s standards. The opportunity to work at The Rathbone Hotel (and in almost all of its departments, without going through the Maintenance department - for security reasons) provided me with ample opportunities, not only for learning, but also for exposing knowledge acquired through the Master’s in Hospitality Management course, by working and performing my duties as an extremely competent hospitality professional. During the internship period, I developed several essential skills, such as solving the most diverse queries and real problems (in real time, in front of a guest). I believe that there could be no better way to test our knowledge and our ability to respond to different requests, since in the professional world everything works differently. I had immense opportunities to put my theoretical knowledge into practice, having participated in several strategic meetings, where I shared my knowledge and points of view regarding the performance of the various departments of The Rathbone Hotel. At the end of each stage of my internship, a meeting was held with the participation of the Hotel Manager (Mr. Miguel Silva), the General Manager (Mr. Daniel Harris) and myself. In these meetings, I presented my conclusions about the various departments to both (strengths, weaknesses and points to improve), something that made me feel, more and more, as a valuable member of the hotel team. After this first meeting, a second meeting was scheduled with the person responsible for each department to outline an action plan, in order to correct some existing problems and to optimize the functioning of each department and the hotel, as a whole. This report chronicles my one-year experience as an intern at The Rathbone Hotel, starting with a brief description of the company, the unit´s characterization, an internal and external analysis (SWOT) and a brief analysis on BREXIT´s possible impacts on the United Kingdom´s tourism. Then, there´s a thorough description of all of the hotel´s departments and of all of the tasks I was assigned, as well as a description of the issues I found during my internship and their possible solutions. As an advanced research, I developed Standard Operational Procedures for the Accounts department and, finally, on the last chapter, we can find my concluding remarks about my internship. I think that the choice to have done this internship was one of the best choices I could have made. Not only did I grow a lot, as a professional and as a person, but I was also able to see, first-hand, the functioning of a boutique hotel, in the centre of one of the busiest cities in the world. I learnt the correct way to communicate with guests and how to maintain a close relationship with them, without ever losing professionalism and posture. Even to this day, I believe that being able to reconcile these behaviours is one of the best feelings in my line of work. All of these guidelines have helped me to become the professional I am today and will help to shape the professional I want to be in the future. I would like to end this section by saying that I strongly advise all students to pursue a curricular internship of this nature for several reasons. The first is related to the fact that they will manage to reconcile all the theoretical knowledge learnt during the Master’s course in Hospitality Management at the University of Algarve with the practical knowledge that they will develop. The second reason is related to the fact that it is an extremely valuable professional experience, that is, even if they already have a good practical knowledge (e.g. they already work in the industry), this experience will force them to expand their horizons, to leave their comfort zone and ultimately acquire new knowledge that can be applied in their future professional life. Lastly, but not least, it will enrich them on a personal level, due to all the situations experienced as a result of the internship.
- Estimulação transcraniana por corrente contínua no tratamento da fibromialgiaPublication . Alves, Inês Dias; Reis, AlexandraA fibromialgia é uma doença caracterizada por alterações na atividade cerebral implicando um aumento da perceção da dor e défices cognitivos. Recentemente tem sido sugerido na literatura que a Estimulação Transcraniana por Corrente Contínua (ETCC), uma técnica que permite a modulação da excitabilidade cortical, desencadeia melhorias na sintomatologia característica na fibromialgia. O objetivo do presente ensaio clínico é avaliar a eficácia da ETCC no tratamento da fibromialgia, nomeadamente: na diminuição da intensidade da dor; diminuição da sintomatologia depressiva; diminuição da sintomatologia de ansiedade; melhoria da qualidade de vida; e diminuição das alterações cognitivas associadas. Vinte e cinco participantes foram aleatorizadas por três grupos de modo a receberem estimulação anódica no córtex pré-frontal dorsolateral, no córtex motor primário ou estimulação sham. Cada participante realizou 10 sessões de ETCC, cada sessão com a duração de 20 minutos. Os grupos experimentais receberam uma corrente contínua de 2mA e o grupo sham arrecebeu uma corrente contínua de 2mA nos 50 segundos iniciais e não recebeu qualquer estimulação no tempo restante. Um avaliador cego realizou avaliação neuropsicológica em dois pontos no tempo, antes e após as 10 sessões de ETCC, em que foram medidas: a sintomatologia depressiva; sintomatologia de ansiedade; a qualidade de vida; e medidas cognitivas (atenção, memória de trabalho e funções executivas). Em todos os grupos verificou-se: diminuição da intensidade da dor, diminuição da sintomatologia depressiva; diminuição da sintomatologia de ansiedade, aumento da qualidade de vida; melhoria da atenção; maior velocidade de processamento; e aumento da flexibilidade cognitiva ao longo do tempo. Contudo, verificou-se que a estimulação anódica no córtex motor primário ou no córtex pré-frontal dorsolateral não desencadeou uma melhoria estatisticamente significativa relativamente à estimulação sham. Verificou-se a presença de efeitos secundários ligeiros e benignos, com a duração máxima de poucos minutos após o término de cada sessão de ETCC. Concluindo, os resultados sugerem que a ETCC não é eficaz no tratamento da fibromialgia. Na ausência de efeitos secundários graves e na presença de melhorias em várias das variáveis medidas ao longo do tempo, sugere-se que se aprofunde o estudo da ETCC na fibromialgia de modo a ultrapassar as limitações do presente ensaio clínico.